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Zen Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Zen Buddhism, Buddhist sect of China and Japan. The name of the sect (Chin. Ch'an, Jap. Zen) derives from the Sanskrit dhyana [meditation]. In China the school early became known for making its centra...

Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Buddhism bo͝odˈĭzəm [key], religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 b.c. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. One of the great world reli...

Ch'an Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Ch'an Buddhism: see Zen Buddhism. ...

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro

(Encyclopedia)Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro dīˈsĕts tātäˈrō so͞ozo͞oˈkē [key], 1870–1966, Japanese Buddhist scholar, educated at Tokyo Univ. After studying (1897–1909) in the United States, he became a lec...

Hua-yen Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Hua-yen Buddhism hwä-yŭn [key] [Chin.,=flower garland], school of Chinese Buddhism centering on the Avatamsaka Sutra [flower garland sutra]. This school has no Indian counterpart. Hua-yen classifies...

koan

(Encyclopedia)koan kōˈän [key] [Jap.,=public question; Chin. kung-an], a subject for meditation in Ch'an or Zen Buddhism, usually one of the sayings of a great Zen master of the past. In the formative period of ...

Dōgen

(Encyclopedia)Dōgen dōˈgĕn [key], 1200–1253, Zen master (see Zen Buddhism) and founder of the Sōtō Zen school in Japan. After studying in China, he received the seal of enlightenment and succession to the T...

Bodhidharma

(Encyclopedia)Bodhidharma: see Zen Buddhism.

Hui-neng

(Encyclopedia)Hui-neng: see Zen Buddhism.

Thich Nhat Hanh

(Encyclopedia)Thich Nhat Hanh, 1926-2022, Zen master, b. Hue, Vietnam, as Nguyen Xuan Bao. At age 16, he began Buddhist training, completing his studies at Bao Quoc I...